


the cameras are rolling (not yet)

by Symph_5683



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Costars to Lovers, F/F, Molly doesn't die, Mutual Pining, Tags will be updated, Yasha plays the bass, all of them are here but not all of them yet, kinda au-ception, slowburn, they're filming a pirate movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 16:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Symph_5683/pseuds/Symph_5683
Summary: Beau knows hollywood. Yasha is new to it all. When they're cast as lovers, something more starts to bloom between them
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Fjord & Jester Lavorre, Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Yasha
Comments: 1
Kudos: 55





	the cameras are rolling (not yet)

Beau prided herself on being composed at all times. Confidence, even feigned, could get you everywhere in life; and well, she was an actress after all. All that to say, this bass player at the concert she was at with Jester, was seriously taking a hit at her stoicism. 

They did this alot, she and Jester. Beau would find out about a small indie rock concert nearby, Jester would buy tickets, they’d enjoy their night, and Fjord would pick them up when it was over. It was an excuse to have fun somewhere the paparazzi wouldn’t find. If they did, at least the band would get some free publicity out of it. Usually, the bands were pretty good, though not overly memorable. Tonight, however, Beau couldn’t keep her eyes off of the bass player. Her long white and black hair, the sleeve of flower tattoos on her left arm, her mismatched eyes-

“Beau-” Jester lightly elbowed her, snapping her out of her staring, “what did you say the band was called?”

“Fletchling & Moondrop.” 

Beau looked back to the stage and the gorgeous woman playing, “they’re really good.”

Jester pulled out her phone and searched up the band, “The bass player’s name is Yasha.”

“Yasha,” Beau had never heard a name more beautiful. She pulled out her own phone and followed her on twitter, verified account be damned. She followed the band and a few of the other members to be safe, no need for anymore TMZ articles on her potential love interests.

By the time the concert had ended and Fjord arrived in his pickup truck, Beau was convinced that this Yasha had to be some sort of angel. She figured if she heard Yasha’s voice she’d combust or something.

“How was the concert?” Fjord asked as they piled in. He didn’t like going to concerts. They were always a little too loud for him, and besides, having their shared house to himself for a little bit was always nice.

“Beau has a crush,” Jester drew out, showing her most recently tagged photo. Yasha never posted pictures of herself, but the band’s drummer posted one of her ever so often.

“Do not,” Beau shot back instantly. Their arguing continued until they returned to their house.

House was putting it lightly. Their agents had said they needed a place with better security than their 3 bedroom downtown apartment. They ended up with a quite garish mansion that was conveniently next door to their friend Caleb and his friend Veth (and her husband and son)’s place. It had way more space than they could ever need but at least they were less likely to be stalked. 

“Don’t forget we have script reading tomorrow morning,” Fjord called as Beau started to her room.

“9 am, leaving at 8, up at 7,” she called back, her schedule already set in her head.

* * *

When Beau finally wandered out to the kitchen, she found Jester pulling out freshly baked blueberry muffins from the oven. It was tradition, script reading days were exciting and reason to celebrate. Jester’s muffins were always sweet enough to almost be considered cupcakes anyway.

They all got the script a few months ago but reading it with the full cast was important. Usually it was the first time they got to meet the other actors. The three of them were special though, if one was booked, it was almost guaranteed the rest of them would be too. This one, a pirate epic, latched onto them immediately. The director, their friend Caleb, was instantly sure he needed them on this project with him.

Fjord and Beau had been practicing lines together since day one. Their characters were childhood best friends turned co-captains of a pirate vessel. Jester was going to be the first mate to their rival with an epic side switch towards the end. If a sequel was ever ordered, the three of them would be traveling together as a team. Their off set friendship made their on screen chemistry even better- a sequel was almost guaranteed.

“I wonder who’s playing your love interest,” Jester said for at  _ least  _ the 5th time this week. They’d been having this conversation since the scripts came out. The name of almost every film star they knew of had been thrown around. 

Reani was mentioned a few times but she was filming on location in Europe. She and Beau worked together on a rom com a few years ago when both were first starting out in the industry, and she was a good friend, but unlikely.

Tori was mentioned once but Beau prayed to the gods above she would not be involved and involved a death glare at Jester for daring to speak that into existence. The two had dated for a few months before Beau started in movies. Tori entering the field a few months ago was not a happy surprise.

“I hope someone new,” Beau decided at last. New talent was alway exciting and the start of a new series was a great place to start. Besides, Beau was promised by her agent Dairon that she wouldn’t have to work with male love interests ever again, and her list of ideas was shortening by the minute.

An alarm rang on Beau’s phone. 8 o’clock. “Alright, time to go,” she grabbed her keys off the hook by the door and ran to her mud covered blue jeep.

“I call shotgun,” Jester yelled, following suit.

Beau luckily had the sense to switch away from her loop of Fletching and Moondrop’s first release before connecting to the car’s bluetooth. It was heavier than some of their newer albums but Beau liked this deep bass line. Jester would never let her live that one down. 

When they entered the room, it was a buzz of actors seeing each other for the first time in a while and new introductions. Beau and Fjord had seats next to each other. The seat to Beau’s left was empty with the character name “Eira” on it. Beau sat behind one that said “Captain Alex (Alexandra)”. Fjord’s said “Captain Tusktooth (Oskar)”. Next to him was an empty spot with “Captain Dione” on it. She was their rival pirate captain. On the other side of her sat Jester behind a sign that said “First mate Fiona”.

“Hey Beauregard, Fjord, Jester” Caleb came walking up behind the two of them, “you guys ready?” Caleb was one of the only people she let call her by her full name. 

“Can’t wait,” Beau smiled back.

“Who do you think?” Beau mouthed, pointing to the empty chair between Jester and Fjord.

Jester shrugged until she saw Beau’s eyes widen. “What?” she mouthed back.

“Behind you,” she whispered.

Jester turned around to see none other than Avantika standing behind her. Avantika was Fjord’s ex and Jester’s self proclaimed rival. She was known for being ruthless against any co-star she decided she didn’t like. She had tried to spread rumors about Jester “only being in movies because “her mama pulled strings”” after Fjord broke up with her. 

“Jester, pleasure to see you again!” Avantika greeted Jester before taking her seat.

Jester’s, “same to you,” came with a faux smile and a glare that threw daggers. 

“Caleb what the fuck man?” Beau whispered in his ear as she pulled him in for a hug that surprised both of them.

“She was already attached when I got brought in,” he whispered back, “I’m sorry.”

“Jester and Fjord are going to have serious words with you.”

“I know.”

The man in the front of the room clapped twice with loud booms spreading across the room. The head producer, a man known to most only as The Gentleman, stood tall at the front of the room. “Welcome everyone, it’s so good to see you all here. Now I will say, we are still in the process of finding a replacement for one of our leads who dropped out last minute. Worry not, we will have our pick ready soon. Now I will hand this meeting off to your director, Mr Caleb Widogast.”

While most of the cast clapped politely, Fjord and Jester cheered and Beau whistled. Caleb cleared his throat and took The Gentleman’s spot at the front of the room. “I am very excited to be leading this project. While it is true Eira is not cast yet, we are reaching out to our picks this week and we will be all set for shooting next month. With all of that out of the way, let’s begin.”

  
  


“I’m gonna kill her before filming ends,” Jester texted the group chat after she spent several minutes play-kissing Avantika’s ass.

“At least Fjord gets to kill her before the movie’s over, a sequel would have 0 involvement from her.” Beau messaged back.

As the message sent, Fjord mimed stabbing Avantika, “This treasure is not yours to take.” She did not seem amused but Jester stifled a giggle. 

By the time the read through ended, the three of them were utterly exhausted. Jester snapped a picture when they got in the car and put it on her instagram. Beau’s sunglasses reflected the sparkle of Jester’s phone case. Fjord put his hand up for bunny ears behind Beau’s head which garnered an immediate, “Don’t distract the fucking driver, man,” from Beau. Jester used that as her caption. 

* * *

“I have a proposition for you,” Molly proclaimed, arriving into Yasha’s apartment unannounced as usual.

Yasha looked up from her bass, nodding to entertain Molly’s newest shenanigan. 

“How would you like to be in a movie?” his eyes had a devilish glint to them

“What?” Molly was known for wild ideas, but none of them had been as wild as this.

“I had someone contact me about you being in his movie. He’s a new director looking for a last minute actress and he said he liked your vibe.”

“My- vibe?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” He perched in front of her on the couch. “You look unconvinced. Look, you get to romance a woman, at least I'm not making you pretend to be straight.”

“I guess I can try?” Yasha hoped in her head this was one of Molly’s ideas that ended up not working out, but then again that’s what she thought about forming the band and that ended up well.

“Awesome, the director wants you to meet up with your love interest for breakfast tomorrow because you missed script read-throughs and he wants you to know each other before filming starts.”

“Uh okay,” Yasha really wasn’t sure about all of this, but she didn’t have anything to lose.

“Also we’ll have a meeting with him afterward to discuss some specifics. He’s giving her your phone number now.”

“Who is she?”

“Beauregard Lionett.”

Yasha was speechless. She didn’t think Molly had meant a blockbuster when he said movie. She figured it was some college kid’s film.

Molly sensed her panic, “You’ll do great,” he squeezed her shoulder before going to raid her fridge.

* * *

“Jester, what did you do?” Beau’s increasingly loud yell came from across the house.

“If Fjord is mad about the pink dye in his hand soap, tell him it washes off eventually,” Jester barely looked up from her phone to respond.

“I- what? I didn’t even know about that. Why is Yasha now playing my love interest in the movie?” Beau shows Jester her phone, a text from her agent, Dairon, reading: Got word from Caleb on your love interest. Her name is Yasha Nydoorin, Caleb wants you two to meet up for breakfast to explain how this all works, she’s new to movie production. Here’s her phone number. 

“Crazy coincidence?” Jester takes a long sip from her water bottle sitting next to her.

“What did you tell Caleb to get him to hire a virtually unknown bass player from an underground band for his directing debut?” She knew Jester could pull all the strings she wanted, but this was a whole new level- even for her.

“I didn’t say shit” Jester quipped back.

“I don't believe you.” Beau’s phone dings and her eyes widen. “Jester,” she sighs, “I am 99% sure you had a part in it.”

“Wait what’s going on?” Fjord walked in from his room, having heard the commotion- a standard in their house, but an interesting site to see regardless.

“The bassist from the band we saw the other night is now playing my love interest and I just know she had something to do with it.”

“And that’s an issue why exactly?” Fjord questioned.

“She doesn’t want to deal with her crush,” Jester teased.

“Not on a movie set with her playing my love interest I don’t,” Beau stood up, “now if you’d excuse me, I have to get ready for a breakfast date tomorrow.”

“You what?” Jester yelled.

Beau flipped her off as she went off to her room. 

* * *

Yasha got to the cafe early. She’d never been to this one before- Beau picked it out saying most paparazzi stayed clear of this place. That was apparently an issue for Beau, though she could vaguely remember the articles about Beau the few times she’d been seen in public with another female actress. 

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t intimidated by Beau. Most people knew who she was- or at least most queer women did. Beau was incredibly attractive and an amazing actress. Sure she seemed a bit cocky, but that was to be expected in her position.

When Beau walked in, she almost lost her breath. She managed to be even more attractive in person. Her hair was pulled up, showing off the shaved side of her head. She had ripped black jeans and a leather jacket on. 

“Hey,” Beau said, sitting down across from her, “it’s nice to meet you.” She offered her hand.

Yasha shook it, noting how soft it felt, “Nice to meet you too.” 

“I saw your show the other day, you're really good.”

“Oh, thanks,” Yasha was trying to roll with  _ that  _ information, play it cool, “I’ve seen your movies and you are too.”

Beau tipped back in her chair, “Okay yeah I’m not in the mood to be formal, we’re gonna have to kiss in this movie, and believe me, you gotta be friendly for those scenes to work well.” 

Yasha didn’t know how she  _ didn’t _ think kissing her would be on the list of things she’d have to do, but the realization was not sweet. “I trust you have infinitely more experience on that field,” she joked.

“Never kissed a girl before?” Beau’s eyebrow raised up as she looked Yasha up and down.

“Not- not in a while,” she figured bringing up your dead girlfriend was not the move on this kind of meeting. It’d come up eventually, but not  _ now. _

Beau gave her a quizzical look but moved on, “Alright well there’s a lot you’re gonna need to know before you get on to set. I guess that  _ is _ the reason we’re here.”

“I figured.”

“Number 1: social media is gonna be an extremely toxic place once you get announced to be on screen, especially with your character being with mine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I apologize in advance. People either like me or hate me. Be ready to ignore a shit ton of mean comments or avoid social media altogether.”

“Alright,” Yasha barely used her accounts anyway.

“Number two: Do not trust Avantika at all.”

“What did she do?” Yasha knew of her, though she always gave her bad vibes.

“She dated Fjord a few years back and she cheated on him. Nasty situation. She’s also just a bitch.” Beau looked around the room, praying she wasn’t there to hear.

“ _ That’s _ why they broke up?”

“Yeah it was not fun. She blamed it on him being in a romance movie with me at the time and he ‘cared more about me than her’.”

“Aren’t you-”

“A lesbian? yeah. It was my first film and I wasn’t publically out yet. I vowed to never play a straight character in a movie again after that. I told Fjord first thing when we started filming and we became really close. I live with him and our friend Jester, actually. They’re both in the movie too, you’ll like them.”

“Is there always this much drama behind the scenes?”

“Always.” Beau’s phone started ringing. “Hold on, I have to take this, if I don’t answer right away, Dairon will get worried, agents can be pretty hard on you, y’know?”

Yasha thought about all the times Molly ended up passed out high on her couch (even when he had his own apartment literally next door) who was totally making this agent stuff up on the fly, “Totally.”

Yasha could only hear Beau’s side of the conversation. 

_ “Hey Dairon” _

_ “yeah we’re at breakfast now.” _

_ “We can discuss that later.” _

_ “I’ll let her know. _

_ “yeah” _

_ “sure” _

_ “see you tomorrow” _

_ “you too” _

Beau shoved her phone back into her pocket. “They said we have costume fittings tomorrow at the same time so I should go with you to help out.”

“Oh cool,” Yasha wouldn’t complain about spending more time with Beau. Having someone who knew what they were doing sounded like a great idea anyway.

“You probably won’t be on set without me that often, I’ve run over the script already with Fjord and we have most of our scenes together. Oh, also, we’re good friends with the director, if you ever get uncomfortable on set just let him know, he takes that stuff super seriously.”

“Good to know.”

“Okay I think that’s all I have for insider information, I’m sure your agent will explain everything else.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure he will,” Molly  _ definitely  _ knew how hollywood worked.

“Okay so tell me about yourself, I want to get to know you better,” Beau sat up. 

“Well uh, I met my friend Molly about 3 years ago and I joined the band soon after. I don’t really remember much before then, my childhood wasn’t great.” That wasn’t exactly a  _ lie.  _ Her memories of her childhood were barely flashes at this point. Zuala was the only person she could really remember at all.

“Mine wasn’t either. My dad disowned me when I was 19. Having a gay actress as a daughter didn’t look great for him as a millionare wine buiness owner I guess. Jokes on him, I make more money now than he does.”

“That’s kinda funny.”

“It is, isn't it?”

They continued talking for a while, up until Beau received another phone call.

“Hey Beau!” This person was loud enough that Yasha could hear her, “Mama said Dairon hasn’t heard from you yet. Are you okay?” 

“Yeah Jester I’m fine,” Beau smiled.

“It’s already 1, you’ve been there for like 3 hours.”

“Oh shit I guess it is, I’ll be home soon.” Beau hung up the phone and shoved it back in her pocket. “I’m so sorry this keeps happening, I usually don’t get this many phone calls. We’ve been here for like 3 hours and I forgot I told Jester I’d be home by noon. If you need anything at all, text me or call me, okay?”

“I guess it is 1, huh.”

“Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess.”

“What time are costumes tomorrow?” 

“10, text me your address and I can pick you up if you want.”

“That sounds great,” Yasha smiled. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Beau smiled back.

“Tomorrow,” Yasha repeated.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have questions about the au hit me up on tumblr @beauyasha-canon. The more you get me to talk about it, the more I'll end up writing


End file.
